HM's=BAD: HMs on a Pokemon who you're going to use in battle is a BAD IDEA. With the exception of Surf, of course, which is arguably the best water attack in the game.

FLY: Fly is terrible. When you fly into the air, you're giving your opponent a free chance to switch out with a Pokemon who is resistant to this attack. Not good. You've wasted a turn and probably ended up with your flying type pitted against a Rock or Electric type. Fly has questionable accuracy, too.

Alternatives: Aerial Ace, Air Cutter, Wing Attack

Cut: The worst HM, possibly the worst MOVE in the game. I hate Cut, and YOU SHOULD TOO!! *lol* Anyway... Cut has terrible base power and terrible accuracy. There are TONS of normal type attacks that 0wn Cut any day.

Alternatives: Body Slam, Return, Tri-Attack

Dig: Yaaay! Lets Dig so our Foe can switch out to a Flying type, or use Earthquake and own you! Hmm...no. Dig is bad. Either makes you vulnerable to one of the most powerful and accurate attacks in the game (Earthquake), or wastes a turn for you and lets you get set up against a type you can't beat.

(02/01/2006: *Note added*)
~Charizard, Flygon, Vibrava, Ninjask, Shedinja are immune Earthquake due to their part Flying type, or, in the case of Shedinja, its Wonder Guard ability. As such, Earthquake would not be able to do hit them while they are using Dig.

Alternatives: Earthquake, or perhaps Mud Shot.

Waterfall and Dive: Uggh. Waterfall does less damange than Surf and has no effects other than Damage. Nooo. Dive gives your opponant a chance to switch out to a grass, electric, or water type. Nooo.

Alternative: SURF

EXCEPTIONS: The only exptions for using HMs is if you're stalling with Dig/Fly/Dive. Perhaps you've used Toxic and Mean look, and you're just waiting for the poison to take effect, and you know that your opponent can't switch due to Mean Look or Block or some such attack. It's okay then, and only then.

STAB: Stab means Same Type Attack Bonus. Pokemon that use the same type of attack that they themselves are (For example, a Blastoise using Surf) get a 1.5X damage multiplier for that attack. If you've heard that Normal type attacks don't get STAB, you've been lied to. That's just a rumor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't use a Pokemon that only knows moves that do damage. There are a few excpetions, some 00bers (Kyogre, Mewtwo) can get away with it, but for the most part this is a bad idea. If your opponent pulls off a few Double Teams, you're up the creek without a paddle. Or if your opponent uses say, Calm Mind or Bulk up, and all you can do is attack pitifully. You my dear, have been owned. So Pokemon should have support moves, like Calm Mind, Bulk Up, Roar, Whirlwind, Toxic, Thunder Wave, just to name a few.

Example Pokemon:

Ninetales
Flamethrower
Body Slam
Dig
Fire Blast

If you've been reading even semi-carefully, you know this moveset is BAD. A GOOD moveset would be:

Ninetales
Flamethrower
Will-O-Wisp
Confuse Ray
Safegaurd

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MORE THAN ONE ATTACK OF THE SAME TYPE ON A POKEMON: Not good. Not good at all. Rarely, if EVER, should you have a Pokemon that knows two attacking moves of the same type. Lets use Kyogre as an example.

TANKS: Pokemon that can take a crap-load of damage and keep on truckin'. They know support moves like Barrier, Amnesia, Iron Defense, ect, and have great Defense and Special Defense.

My favorite tank is Umbreon.

Umbreon
Mean Look
Moonlight
Toxic
Bite

Ohhh, tough, eh? Think about it.

Or perhaps Torkoal.

Torkoal@Chesto Berry
Iron Defense
Amnesia
Flamethrower
Rest

Iron Defense and Amnesia away, then when your HP is low, Rest and wake up immediatley with the Chesto Berry. A tank, through and through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HAZERS/PSEUDOHASERS: These Pokemon are Pokemon who directly or indirectly make the opponant lose all of the stat modifiers it has used, like Calm Mind, Amnesia, or Double Team. A hazer would simply be a Pokemon using Haze, which makes all stat changes dissappear. A Psudohaser is a move that indirectly makes these stat changes go away, like making them switch with Roar or Whirlwind. At least one Hazer/Psudohazer really should be on your team.

Skarmory:
Drill Peck
Steel Wing
Roar
Spikes

Roar serves as a psuedo-hazing attack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SPECIAL SWEEPER A Special Sweeper is a Pokemon that knows a ton of Special Attacks and has the Special Attack stat to pull them off. For example, Alakazam:

Alakazam:
Calm Mind
Psychic
Ice Punch
Fire Punch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHYSICAL SWEEPER

The same as a Special Sweeper, only it uses Attack based attacks and has a high ATTACK stat.

Haracross
Megahorn
Brick Break
Endure
Reversal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANNOYERS

Pokemon that are...well, just plain annoying, and WIN. =P For Exampleeeee

Raichu:
Thunder Wave
Sweet Kiss
Attract
Thunderbolt

Parattractafusion, or being Paralyzed, Attracted, and Confused at the same time. You couldn't hit the broad side of a Wailord.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HEAL BELLERS Heal Bellers are Pokemon that have the ability to heal all the status infictions on your entire team. Aromatherapy is another move with the same effect. When you use Heal Bell, all the Pokemon on your team return to normal status. Some Pokemon that learn Heal Bell and Aromatherapy include: Celebi, Roselia, and Miltank.

Blissey:
Aromatherapy/Heal Bell
Softboiled
Counter
Seismic Toss

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BATON PASSERS Baton Passers are Pokemon that use Baton Pass to send boosted stats to other members of the Pokemon team. For example, Girafarig is a popular Baton Passer. They make the Pokemon they switch out to much stronger than it would be if not for all the stat boosts, and that Pokemon didn't have to waste any time or movespace using those moves themselves.

Ninjask:
Swords Dance
Baton Pass
Protect
Silver Wind

Every turn, Ninjask's Speed goes up one level. When combined with Swords Dance, when Ninjask uses Baton Pass, it transfers both the Attack and the Speed increases.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EV Guide

EVs

EVs are points that a Pokemon generates when you defeat it. It is given to any Pokemon that particitated in the battle involving the defeated Pokemon.

What do EVs do?

EVs are used to max out a certain stat of a specific Pokemon. They are very important in being able to decide what stats should be increased. Up to 63 extra points in a stat can be given through the use of EVs.

A Pokemon can receive up to 510 EV( also commonly known as EPs) points in total and 255 in one stat. However, the true limit to maxing a stat is 252 EV points. By maxing out two stat with 252 EV points, you will have 6 EV points left over to put in a stat.

Here are some Pokemon giving specific EV points to the wanted Pokemon by "EP training".

- Never give EPs to a useless stat, like giving Special Attack EPs to Aggron.
- Remember to give EPs in the most important stats of a Pok?mon. For example, Alakazam's best stats are Special Attack and Speed, so max those stats' EVs out.
- There are sometimes when even EPs won't help a horrible stat, like Shuckle's Attack. It's just too low to waste any EPs on it.
- Just because you have a stat increasing move like Calm Mind or Belly Drum doesn't mean that you should neglect EPs into a certain stat, because stat increasing moves are multiplicative.

Vitamins

Vitamins are a shortcut in EV training. There is an individual vitamin matching each individual known battle stat.

Vitamins can be obtained in a variety of ways. They can be found as hidden items throughout the land, Proteins may be obtained by a Pokemon with the Pickup ability (e.g. Linoone), and Vitamins can also be purchased in Slateport City from the Energy Guru in the Slateport Market for 9800 dollars. After beating the Elite 4, the Energy Guru will occasionally have a half-priced sale preceded by an ad on the TV 2 days in advance. In addition, they can be purchased in the Lilycove Department Store on the left counter on the third floor for 9800 dollars. Berries can be crushed using the Berry Crush Machine & the powder traded to the Medicine Shop in Slateport for Vitamins for 1000p each. Last, but certainly not least, Vitamins can be obtained in the Battle Point Exchange Service Center for a mere 1 Battle Point per Vitamin.

What's the use of Vitamins? As listed, any one Vitamin will give 10 EV's to it's corresponding attribute. Since it takes 4 EV's to change any stat point by one, this is most effective if given by 2's. 20 EV's = 5 stat points. However there is a limit of 10 vitamins per any given stat limiting it to 100 EV's or 25 stat points per attribute by vitamin enhancement. Plan well ahead using previously documented EV training techniques & you can save yourself half the trouble & time of actual battle to completely EV train your selected pokemon.

As a final note & matter of opinion, if you have Rare Candies & Vitamins (or money, BP, or powder/Berries) you can train up your Pokemon to Level 100 in much, much less time using these items. Careful breeding & skillful use of TM's/HM's will gain you the Pokemon & stats you desire. Adding Vitamins for a boost and finishing it up with proper EV training will net powerful results that will stun & amaze your friends as well as you, yourself.

Pokemon isn't just about defeating the Elite Four and catching them all just to complete the game. It's also about raising your chosen team into a formidable fighting force. Whether it's for your own personal satisfaction or to fight your friends, you'll need to spend days, weeks and months to groom your team of Pokemon into champions.

1) What the Stats meanThis may be basic stuff, but it is nevertheless important that you understand the Stats.

Any two of a Pokemon may learn the same skills at the same level, but they will NEVER be identical. Two zigzagoons, for example, will have different Stats. One may have higher defense, while the other may have higher special attack. This is due to them having different DVs, or Deter Values. DVs are like built-in Pokemon genes - they determine how strong a certain Pokemon can be. Each Pokemon that you fight has a random DV for every stat, ranging from 0 - 31. If the Pokemon has 15 for a DV, then it can have the max possible stat for that specie. Likewise, if it has a DV of 0, then it will have the lowest possible stat. For more information, Psypoke's DV page (which is about GSC, but the basics apply for R/S as well) can be found here: DV Guide.

In short, it may be good to catch a few of the same Pokemon, as some may be faster, some may be stronger, while some may just be weaker in all aspects. After doing so, you should compare the Stats to see if they are suitable. For example, for an Alakazam, a higher defense will barely matter at all since his defense is so weak anyway. Instead, go for one with good Special Attack or Speed, since they boost his astronomical Special Attack, making him an effective sweeper.

--HpThis is the amount of damage your Pokemon can take before it faints. Obviously, the more the better, but don't overestimate its importance. For example, Chansey may have tons of Hp, but will a dismally low Defense, many Pokemon can OHKO (one hit knock-out) it.

--DefenseUsually more important than Hp. Affects the amount of PHYSICAL damage your Pokemon can take, and not Special damage.

--SpeedMore important than most might think. With great speed, it doesn't matter even if a Pokemon has terrible Defense, since it can KO most foes before they get a hit in return.

--SpecialDetermines damage dealt to the opponent when using Special Attacks.

2) Get them while they're youngWhen catching a Pokemon you intend to use in the long run, catch it at as low a level as possible. This is because wild Pokemon at a particular level will always have worse Stats than another same Pokemon of the same level that is trained up from lower levels by fighting other Pokemon, due to the EVs (effort values) received from the Pokemon fought. For more information, visit the EV guide (EV Guide).

3) When to evolve?Always remember that you can prevent a Pokemon from evolving by giving it an Everstone to hold, or hitting the B button when evolving. The only reasons you'll want to do this is to learn skills earlier. For example, a Mudkip will learn Protect at Level 37, while a Marshtomp wil only learn it at Level 42 and a Swampert will only learn it at Level 46. Do take note though, that certain Pokemon learn different skills or gain a new type upon evolution. For example, a Mudkip (Water type) will become a Water/Ground type when it evolves. By evolving, it would have lost the ability to learn certain skills (such as Hydro Pump at Level 42), but at the same time, gain the ability to learn other skills (such as Muddy Water and Earthquake at Level 37 and 46 respectively) So the next time your Pokemon is evolving, do consult the Pokedex (Psypoke Psydex) to see what attacks it will or will not learn after evolution.

4) Status ConditionsIn addition to their direct effects, some conditions have other effects as well. Paralysis lowers speed greatly and Burns lower Attack.

1. Always have around 2 techniques that are capable of doing damage. For example, having Growl, Sweet Kiss, Attract and Thunder Wave on a Raichu may seem to be a great idea, but you don't even have the firepower to knock out the opponent later. Instead, give it Thunderbolt over Growl, so you can do damage.

2. Check the amount of PP each skill has. Fire Blast may be powerful, but with a PP of only 5, it will be totally spent after 5 uses. Instead, replace it with Flamethrower for higher PP (though it has lower base power)

6) Using TMs and HMsTMs, or Technical Machines, are certain items that can teach skills to your Pokemon. With exception to a few that can be purchase in the Lilycove Department Store and Mauville Game Corner, there exists only one copy of each TM in a game, so you'll want to consider carefully who to give it to.

Firstly, do not teach Pokemon attacks that they will learn anyway (at higher levels). Secondly, teach Special Attacks only to Pokemon with high SA Stats, and Physical Attacks only to Pokemon with high attack Stats. Otherwise, you'll only be wasting the TM on a Pokemon that can't exploit its full potential. And while its nice to teach, say, Thunderbolt to something like Linoone, there are other Electric types like Magneton that does not learn the attack. Since they get STAB (same type attack bonus, damage is boosted by 50%) for using this attack, this skill will be better spent on them.

If you do find yourself in a need of certain TMs that have already been used, fret not, because you can breed to get the moves onto another Pokemon. Many Pokemon learn TM moves by levelling up, and once they learn these skills, you can breed them to get the TM skills onto another Pokemon. Here's a list of some Pokemon who can learn TM moves and their egg groups. (Special thanks to poli for this list)

HMs are different in many ways. They can be used any number of times. Once learnt, the Pokemon can only forget it at the Move Deleter's House (In Lilycove City). This isn't so bad when the skill is good, such as Surf (arguably the best damage-dealing Water attack). However, HM skills such as Cut and Dive are bad. Dive gives your opponant a chance to switch out to a grass, electric, or water type to counter you. Cut just sucks, it is not 100% accurate, its base power is so low, and it has no other effects.

1.How do I catch Latias and Latios?Information on where and how to catch Latias and Latios, or any other legendary Pokemon, can be found on the legendaries page (Legendaries) Some hints and tips:
- Use Wobbuffet or Wyanut as your first Pokemon. Wobbuffet and Wyanut's ability is Shadow Tag, which prevents the opponent from fleeing.
- A trick that seems to work is to use a Repel, and then hop around on an Acro bike in a patch of grass until Latios or Latias show up. Some people claim that their catch rate is higher in certain areas, but I don't know how reliable that is.

2.Where can I get an Eon Ticket?The Eon Ticket can only be acquired through a Nintendo event, there is no way to get the Eon Ticket in the game. In order to get the Eon Ticket you will require an E-Reader, because the Eon Ticket is scanned into the game via an E-Card. Currently, Eon Ticket E-cards are available on E-Bay, and other places on the internet.

3.Can I get the original RBY and GSC Pokemon in R/S?Not at the moment, but you will be able to acquire some GSC Pokemon in the upcoming game Pokemon Colisseum, for the GameCube. Pokemon Colisseum will allow direct trading between Ruby/Sapphire and Colisseum. Fire Red and Leaf Green, will include the original RBY Pokemon, and some of the GSC ones, and will allow linking to Ruby/Sapphire.

4.How do I get Jirachi and Deoxys in R/S?Jirachi could have been acquired by pre-ordering Pokemon Colisseum, I don't know if this is still valid, nor do I know if there will be any way to get him in the future. WHat's for sure, he can only be acquired from Nintendo. Deoxys can be found in both Fire Red and Leaf Green on one of the islands (the last one to be precise). For more information on Deoxys: Walkthrough Part VIII (scroll down).

5.It's too hard to catch Groudon and Kyogre!If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Attempt to get them down to the lowest HP you can, preferrably 1 HP (with False Swipe), but a bit more than that won't hurt you.
A very important thing to do is to get them inflicted with a status aliment, like Sleep or Paralysis. Then, just chuck as many Ultra or Timer Balls as you can at it, and it'll eventually get caught. Don't get frustrated if it doesn't work at first - it might take 20 Ultra Balls until you catch it, maybe more.
And finally, there's always the option to use the all mighty Master Ball.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Credits: - Tallest Los for the Basics of Team Building.
- World Order for the main part of the EV Guide
- lunareclipse for the section of the EV Guide on Vitamins
- sN0wBaLL for the Guide to Raising Pokemon.
- Trigun for some of the FAQs.
- Tessa7338 for some of the Pokemon that learn TM's naturally.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to post them here.

Last edited by Nido on Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:49 am, edited 10 times in total.

Wed Aug 04, 2004 3:14 pm

RaichuLatias

Pokemon Master

Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 4:50 pmPosts: 1206Location: Southern Island

Everything looks good, except, I don't see anything on Vitamins.

_________________

Thu Aug 05, 2004 8:00 pm

Nido

Pokemon Ranger

Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 3:52 amPosts: 626Location: Israel!

If you'd write something up about vitamins, I'd be glad to add it to the guide

Last edited by Nido on Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sun Sep 19, 2004 9:10 am

scyther_girl

Psychic Trainer

Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 5:05 pmPosts: 93Location: here

it's the first time I hear about EVs..
I've tried it on my sapphire version, my kecleon gained +3 attack while leveling up instead of +2, after I battled about 20 shupets you should have mentioned that dammit !!
*cough*.. annyway, tentacul in abandoned ship dosen't give me any EV points. Am I missing something?

_________________scythers. cause they're green.

Mon Sep 20, 2004 2:58 pm

RaichuLatias

Pokemon Master

Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 4:50 pmPosts: 1206Location: Southern Island

Every pokemon gives you Effort Value points, they're listed in the Psydex

_________________

Mon Sep 20, 2004 3:04 pm

ho-oh champion

Dragon Tamer

Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2004 4:35 amPosts: 162Location: Ye Ol' York

nido, how long did that take you to type

_________________"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish preception of people. Truly skilled Trainers should try to win with the Pokémon they love best."

That is correct. The best way to keep track of EVs, I think, is a method like this:

I was training Special Attack onto my Electrode, and so I was using the move Spark to OHKO wild Spinda. I'd go out and use all 20 of my PPs for Spark, then go heal it and do it all over again. Each time I'd use up all it's PP, i'd mark down another 20 tally marks on a peice of paper. Stinkin' annoying, but it'll pay off when you see your selected stat jump eight points when it levels up.

That is correct. The best way to keep track of EVs, I think, is a method like this:

I was training Special Attack onto my Electrode, and so I was using the move Spark to OHKO wild Spinda. I'd go out and use all 20 of my PPs for Spark, then go heal it and do it all over again. Each time I'd use up all it's PP, i'd mark down another 20 tally marks on a peice of paper. Stinkin' annoying, but it'll pay off when you see your selected stat jump eight points when it levels up.

How confusing... I thought I could just look at the stats over and over until I find a +1 to a stat.

Tue Dec 07, 2004 7:51 pm

Mr. Saturn

Ace Trainer

Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 7:09 pmPosts: 399

papersun wrote:

That is correct. The best way to keep track of EVs, I think, is a method like this:

I was training Special Attack onto my Electrode, and so I was using the move Spark to OHKO wild Spinda. I'd go out and use all 20 of my PPs for Spark, then go heal it and do it all over again. Each time I'd use up all it's PP, i'd mark down another 20 tally marks on a peice of paper. Stinkin' annoying, but it'll pay off when you see your selected stat jump eight points when it levels up.

I do that too, hah!

On a related note, does switching a pokemon mid-battle (such as in piggybacking for levels for a low level pokemon) yield EVs for the piggybacker, or just the pokemon that deals the finishing blow?

I think it is wrong that you say attacks like fly and dig are bad. They may have their down sides but they have good sides too, just like a pokemon is strong or week against others.

Think of the battle scene, a just defeated the second last pokemon and is week and is the last pokemon. Now it's one on one and the pokemon is . Now used Aerial Ace and did less than half the HP. started to use solar beam which would KO since it has little HP. Using Aerial Ace would only leave will HP in the red, but can use fly and because it is more powerfull it will defeat it and miss Solar Beam. Which would you pick Aerial Ace or Fly I would pick fly.

I think it is wrong that you say attacks like fly and dig are bad. They may have their down sides but they have good sides too, just like a pokemon is strong or week against others.

Think of the battle scene, a just defeated the second last pokemon and is week and is the last pokemon. Now it's one on one and the pokemon is . Now used Aerial Ace and did less than half the HP. started to use solar beam which would KO since it has little HP. Using Aerial Ace would only leave will HP in the red, but can use fly and because it is more powerfull it will defeat it and miss Solar Beam. Which would you pick Aerial Ace or Fly I would pick fly.

first off, it would be silly to have Fly AND aerial ace on there to begin with. and second, Fly is basically a move that tells your opponent what you have planned. Shiftry might well have protect. besides, If Aerial Ace did less than half HP, you're likely to not do much better with Fly. hell, Fly could give Shiftry a chance to do a number of things: Synthesis, Protect, Sunny Day, all of which will make things a lot worse than they started. And in all honesty, Sunny Day would be up anyway, so the knowledge of Shiftry charging it wouldn't even play a factor. moves where the pokemon charges before attacking (skull bash, dig, fly, dive, solarbeam, sky attack, razor wind, whatever) are just like giving away your hand in poker. There's no bluffing, your opponent knows what you're going to do, and how to get around it.

I said shiftry started to use solar beam, meaning that shiftry will use solar beam next turn so it can't do anything else to protect itself. I can understand about your first complaint, but say it was true even if it is silly. I did say that Aerial Ace did less than half the damage meaning, that it left shiftry will 2, 3, or 4 more than half the HP.

I said shiftry started to use solar beam, meaning that shiftry will use solar beam next turn so it can't do anything else to protect itself. I can understand about your first complaint, but say it was true even if it is silly. I did say that Aerial Ace did less than half the damage meaning, that it left shiftry will 2, 3, or 4 more than half the HP.

really, I guess It could work, but in all honesty, a solarbeamer without sunny day is JUST as silly as Aerial Ace and Fly in the same moveset. I don't really know how to assess the idea nicely, other than the flawed components make for a flawed scenario entirely. Simply put, if the scenario were to really happen, you'd most likely be screwed without fly, but do just as bad all around with fly in place of aerial ace.

Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:40 pm

RaichuLatias

Pokemon Master

Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 4:50 pmPosts: 1206Location: Southern Island

Not to but in or anything,

But Drill Peck is better than both Fly and AA (in my opinion) And besides Dig and Fly and pretty worthless, unless you're letting toxic take place.

My cuz used to have Fly and Dig on some his pokemon (back in the gsc days), My T-Tar and Raichu easily beat them with one or 2 attacks (Thanks to EQ and Thunder Dance combo). Fly and Dig are best on utility pokes and not on battling pokes.

I do see where you are going on Fly and AA versus Shiftry, but wouldn't that also make Blizzard, Fire Blast and Thunder better if Ice Beam, Flamethrower and Thunderbolt can't take more than half damage?

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